Following up on earlier teaser photos, Kia fully revealed the Cub concept today in South Korea at the Seoul Motor Show. The hatchback is supposedly performance-oriented, and in size it fits between the MINI Cooper and Nissan Juke. Though it is just a concept, the Cub concept signals Kia's interest may be interested in joining the premium-compact segment occupied by those vehicles.

Like the Honda Element, the Kia Cub's rear doors open backwards, and there is no B-pillar to allow for maximum ease of entry. Out front is a curved black insert on the front fascia that looks like a handlebar mustache, with a softened version of Kia's "tiger nose" grille (which incorporates an engine air intake) and rounded, squinty headlights. The rear has LED taillights and another black insert that matches that on the front fascia. Nineteen-inch alloy wheels are standard. A thick white racing stripe runs from the front to rear of the car.Kia claims the Cub concept's interior has a "unique ambience," thanks to black leather seats with yellow accents, a display screen perched atop the dashboard, a smartphone dock in the slanted center console, and a heating vent controlled by touch. The steering wheel can detect the driver's heartbeat to keep track of his health, and the instrument-cluster display can be operated by using gestures, à la Minority Report.

Under the hood is a turbocharged 1.6-liter inline-four engine good for 201 hp and 195 lb-ft of torque. Kia estimates the Cub concept would probably accelerate to 60 mph in around 7-8 seconds.Kia says it does not plan to put the Cub concept into production.

A car with suicide doors and two vaudevillian mustaches. That has to be a design first what a brilliantly quirky car, not particularly sure what segment Kia is aiming at with this concept but I hope they put it into production. If the Soul has shown us anything it's that Kia knows how to make unusual designs into great successes. So long as the Cub doesn't cannibalize sales from the Soul or the Forte 5, Kia has another real winner.

Why do Koreans hold an auto show at the end of the auto show season since the majority of releases are coming out of New York? Will be interesting to see what people say about this concept when the auto show season starts back up again.